When I wrote Shred Sisters, I didn’t tell anyone I was writing it. (Except my husband who saw me get out of bed every morning at 5:00, brew a pot of coffee, and head up to my office.) I felt a bit self-conscious as I’d always been a non-fiction person. Who was I to try my hand at a novel? I also deeply believe something Spike Lee said in an interview (and I’m paraphrasing), that the more he blabbed about whatever he was working on, the less likely he would get it done. I think it’s almost essential that you build a wall around your projects. Not for fear that anyone will take your ideas, but because you need to protect the work and the relationship you have with it. Talking about it dilutes it, lets the air out, subjects it to the elements.
Agree, disagree, thoughts?
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Betsy Lerner 
totally agree
I’m this way, too, and while it annoys people who ask, I’ve found validation for my silence from writers before me. Glad to find you among them.
Thank heaven, one of the few mistakes I haven’t made is to talk about the unwritten book. – John Le Carré
Agree. Jinx’ it to talk about it.
Agree. Pregnable by incestuous rapists.
So true. Talking about the story fools the brain into thinking you have written it and also lets the air out of creativity’s tires.
Agree. I rarely talk about what I’m working on. There’s only so much energy, so much time, that one has available. Any spent on talking about the work instead of doing the work is wasted, entropic heat loss.
Agreed, although I do think writers should when asked say something like “I am writing a novel about 1840s northern California.” The usual vague followup (perhaps a variation of “interesting,” or “Hmm,” or “how’s that going?”) seems harmless. More interesting responses can happen do, but they too seem harmless to the writing process. — Stephen Sossaman
“…can happen too.” No excuse for typos. Sorry. — Stephen Sossaman
Nice to get your email. Interesting thought. It actually helps me to let a few people know about projects (but not broadcast them on social media), since I then feel some obligation to complete them and get them published lest I lose face/credibility. I note the Simpsons illustration. Weâre acquainted with one of the Simpsons writers (and a prominent travel/humor writer), Mike Reiss. Bill
I STAND WITH ISRAEL.
Yes, certainly when the work is just a seed, any negative comment will cause it to hide itself underground. Sometimes in spite of that warning, I share the smallest bit, curious whether it has any fascination. I used to read to my husband, but without that tiny outlet, I find I do share only the smallest bit. Always after, I have to wait for the energy to build again, hoping in dread that it won’t.
I agree. And also, I’ve never worked in the past with beta readers, and for my last two books I’ve “allowed” this. There’s been the good with the bad on that path. I’m a solo sort, I’m pretty sure.
John C. Krieg
This stance is not all that different from views on romance. Back in the day we used to say, “The guys who talk about the most, get it the least.” Or talk is cheap.
Our books are like our children, and we wouldn’t reveal intimate family secrets to just anyone.
On a similar note, one of the hardest things for me to do is to tell anyone that I am a writer. Self-doubt creeps in, and in addition to that, I know that they are either going to dismiss me or ask me what have I wrote? Nine times out of ten they don’t really care; they just want to put me on the spot. I hate it when that happens.
Unfortunately, most people don’t even have a clue. Years ago, I was at the Post Office mailing out poetry manuscripts when this guy asked me. “What are those?” And I stepped right in it and said, “Poetry.” “Poetry,” he replied, “I love that shit! Read me something.” Yeah – right there in the middle of the Post Office. Through the years I have developed a keen radar for fools and refuse to suffer them. So, I agree with you that when you’re into something good – zip your lip.
Talk is cheap.
I agree about building a wall at the start of an idea, a project, a change in direction. I read that Sara Blakely the billionaire founder of Spanx, kept her business idea from her friends and family for a year while she reached out to others who could help her think it through. She reasoned that her loved ones might talk her out of taking this risk before she put in the necessary time and effort to explore it. She also understood that when we are in that vulnerable state at the start of a project we yearn to do, if we share it our egos can get in the way and we spend time defending the idea when we could be working on it.
The ambivalence/insecurity/fear likely ‘comes first’. Possibly different for fiction vis a vis non-fiction.
Cheers on the publication.
I’m reading FFTT. Cheers on that, too.